Don't Wait
by musingsandmisunderstandings
Summary: Nicole, who's struggling with her feelings for her best friend's little sister, decides it's time to tell Wynonna how she feels about Waverly.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hey Earpers, this is my first time writing anything for WayHaught, but I've had this conversation between Nicole and Wynonna swimming around in my head for weeks, so I decided to bite the bullet, type it up, and post it. Happy reading!**

Nicole was sitting at Shorty's, her hands on the bar top, her fingertips tapping lightly as the silence continued to stretch between her best friend and herself. She was internally berating herself. She watched Wynonna cautiously through her peripherals, her own shoulders tensing as she fought to stop herself from clenching her fists. _I shouldn't have said anything._ She thought to herself as she tried and failed to prepare herself for how this conversation was about to go.

Finally, Wynonna turned slowly in her seat, the bar stool squeaking slightly at the movement. She stared at Nicole, silently urging the redheaded woman to look at her and meet her gaze. She waited until Nicole turned to look at her, she couldn't help but notice the hesitance in her best friend's actions and she barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes, choosing to speak instead. "You're in love with my baby sister?" She stated more than asked, her eyebrows pulled together as she thought back to how Nicole had blurted out her confession. _How had I not realized that Nicole had feelings for Waverly sooner?_

"Yes?" Nicole answered hesitantly, wincing when she realized that it had sounded more like she was asking Wynonna a question instead of answering the one the brunette had asked.

"Are you sure about that, Haught?" Wynonna asked her in return. "Because I've got to be honest with you, you don't sound so sure about your feelings right now."

"Look, Wynonna, Waverly is so- I don't even know how to begin to explain how I feel whenever I look at her… whenever I think about her." Nicole said, turning her head away to glare at one of the signs that was hanging above the bar. "I can't even pinpoint the moment I started falling for her, but obviously, my heart never stood a chance when it came to her. She's perfect. I know that I don't exactly deserve someone as special-"

"Don't even think about trying to finish that sentence, Haught Stuff." Wynonna interrupted sternly. "You don't get to talk about yourself like that. I wouldn't let any of the dumb fucks in town get away with doing that and I sure as shit am not going to let you try."

Nicole took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and giving herself a few seconds to gather her thoughts. She didn't know what to make of Wynonna's reaction to her confession. She'd been expecting Wynonna to punch her in the face for admitting to having feelings for Waverly. She'd been readying herself to reign in the Earp's anger… knowing how difficult doing so would surely be, yet here they sat calmly at Shorty's talking as they always had. "I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you even apologizing for?" Wynonna asked.

Nicole's lips twitched upward into an involuntary smile as she heard the indignation in Wynonna's voice. "Honestly? I don't even know." She admitted warily. "I wasn't expecting this conversation to go quite as… smoothly as it's going." She explained, struggling to find the words to accurately articulate how confused she was by her best friend's reaction, or lack thereof.

"Well, that's fucking rude." Wynonna rebutted with a knowing grin on her lips. "Why has it taken you so long to admit that you've got feelings for Waverly, Nicole?"

"I- uh, I guess I didn't know how you were going to react and it made me hesitate." Nicole admitted somewhat reluctantly. "I mean, I've seen how you've reacted to others who've shown interest in your little sister in the past… so, I wasn't expecting you to react any differently when it came to me."

"Okay, I can't pretend that I don't understand that." Wynonna said with a nod of her head. "But here's the thing, Haught Shot. I'll admit that I'm struggling to keep myself from punching your lights out right now, but I can guaran-fucking-tee that it's not for the stupid reasons you've probably got cooking up under those flaming locks of yours." Wynonna said, unable to keep her serious demeanor in place as she let out a laugh at the absurdity in the situation. She took a deep breath and bumped Nicole's shoulder gently with her own, waiting until the redheaded woman met her gaze before she continued. "Nicole Haught, don't you fucking dare put yourself in the same category as someone as downright stupid as Champ Hardy. He was- no, wait- he _is_ an idiot who _never_ deserved Waverly's attention, you're nothing like that man-child."

Nicole couldn't help but smile at how quickly and how passionately Wynonna had jumped in to stop her from belittling herself like she always had when they were growing up. Hell, their sophomore year in high school, Wynonna had tackled Nicole to the ground, knocking the wind out of her and sitting precariously on her chest, repeatedly reassuring her and telling her that everything was going to be okay with the then sixteen-year-old girl had admitted to her best friend that she liked women exclusively.

"Are you thinking about that time that I kicked Stupid Carl in the nuts?" Wynonna asked, breaking the comfortable silence that they'd slipped into as they sat at the bar idly sipping on their beers. "Because I've got to be honest, that shit-eating grin you're sporting right now is kind of putting me on edge."

"No, no I wasn't." Nicole laughed out.

"What's on your mind, Haught?" Wynonna asked. While the brunette would've surely lost her patience had she been talking to anyone else, except her little sister, obviously, she knew that Nicole was still struggling. Not only with her feelings for Waverly, but whether she was going to be brave enough to do something about them or not. The brunette knew how unselfish her best friend was, more so when whatever she was going to do would have a direct impact on the Earp Sisters.

"I don't think that I'm going to talk to Waverly about any of this." Nicole said, the smile she'd had while thinking about her best friend's antics had quickly disappeared with every word she spoke. "I wouldn't want to make things awkward between us… any of us."

"Seriously?" Wynonna asked somewhat incredulously. "You're not going to know how she is feeling about you unless you take a chance and talk to her about yours, you know."

"Wy-"

"Look, Nicole, I'm not going to pretend to know what Waverly is thinking, or how she's feeling, when it comes to you." Wynonna blinked. "Honestly, I really don't think I want to know what she might be thinking where you're concerned… I don't want to think about my best friend and my little sister probably, possibly, maybe banging someday… ugh."

"Seriously, Wynonna?!" Nicole hissed, the blush on her cheeks darkening as she stared disbelievingly at the brunette. "Were you trying to make a point?" Wynonna took a long sip of her beer, shaking her head at herself before sheepishly turning to meet her gaze and nodding. Nicole rolled her eyes. "Then get to the point."

"You've got to get out of your head, Haught. Not only are you selling yourself short, which, seriously _stop_ , but you're also assuming you know what it is that Waverly wants, who it is she wants." Wynonna told her with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm not trying to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do, you know? But I know you and I know Waverly… take a chance."

Nicole stared at Wynonna in stunned silence, watching as the brunette pointedly ignored her blatant staring and took another long sip of her beer. "Wyn-"

"Waverly's not scheduled to come into Shorty's tonight, so she'll most likely be spending the night watching documentaries or something like that at the Homestead. Why don't you go keep her company? Talk?" Wynonna suggested.

Nicole sat in silence at Wynonna's side, the beer she'd been nursing now sitting completely forgotten in front of her as she silently weighed her options. She replayed the conversation she'd had with Wynonna in her mind and her thoughts immediately drifted to Waverly. She was itching to tell her how deeply her feelings for her truly ran, but she was still hesitating to do so.

"Nicole, go talk to Waverly." Wynonna said sternly, her words quickly pulling the redhead out of her thoughts. "But buy me a shot of whiskey before you leave."

Nicole's lips slowly lifted into a smile as she got off the bar stool, reached into her back pocket, and pulled out her wallet. "Make it a double." She said as she grabbed some bills out of her wallet, counted them out, and placed them on the bar top. "Thanks, Wynonna."

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it." Wynonna said as she brought her beer back to her lips, she paused before the glass could touch her lips. "Good luck, Haught Shot."


	2. Hands Down

**Author's Note: Hey Earpers, I saw that some of you wanted this to be a two-shot, so I decided to try my best to give you what you wanted. I hope it lives up to your expectations. Happy reading!**

Nicole took a deep breath. She looked up, taking in the sight of the Homestead as she sat in her parked car. She couldn't help but smile slightly as she saw the flickering of a blue hue coming from the living room window, silently confirming to herself what Wynonna had told her earlier. Waverly Earp was indeed at home enjoying a peaceful night in.

Her phone started vibrating in her back-pocket, causing her to startle in her seat. She shuffled in place, barely avoiding bumping into the car's horn as she pulled her phone out. She pushed the side button, lighting up the screen, and rolled her eyes fondly as she took in the sight of her best friend's name as well as the picture that the brunette had chosen of herself as her contact picture. She slid her finger across the screen, answering the call and brought the phone to her ear. "Hi, Wynonna."

"Haught Shot, stop stupidly staring at the window with those heart-eyes of yours, get your ass out of the car, and go talk to Waverly." Wynonna's voice scolded as it came through the speaker.

"What are you- how did you even know-" Nicole sputtered out. She looked around, taking in her surroundings and half-expecting to see a brunette head of hair peeking out of somewhere random, even though she could hear the telltale sounds of a busy Friday night at Shorty's in the background.

"Seriously, Haught?" Wynonna scoffed. "You think I don't know how my best friend's mind works?" She asked rhetorically. "Stop offending me."

"I'm sorry, Wy." Nicole sighed. She brought her hand to the back of her neck and pressed her fingertips into the soft skin there, trying to relieve the building tension. "I guess I'm just-"

"Second-guessing yourself?" Wynonna interrupted. "Yeah, I know, but here's the thing, Haught... you're not usually like this. Where'd all that annoying confidence of yours go?"

"I don't know." Nicole sighed.

"You do know." Wynonna corrected. "Go talk to Waverly, Nicole."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Nicole agreed with a nod of her head, her eyes drifting back to the window as she spoke.

"Now, Haught." Wynonna said.

"O-" Nicole started to say, only to be abruptly interrupted by her phone beeping, signaling that her best friend had ended the call. "-kay."

 _Get it together._ Nicole told herself as she shoved her phone back into her back-pocket and pulled her keys out of the ignition. _Waverly is just a pretty girl... you've talked to pretty girls before, so what's the big deal? Oh, you're so full of shit, Haught._ She took a deep breath, pushed the door open, stepped out of the car, and walked up the porch steps, quickly knocking on the door before she could talk herself out of it.

She heard a muffled huff from the other side of the door, a smile teasing at her lips when she heard a thump on the floor, followed quickly by footsteps that were getting close to where she stood waiting, and she clenched her fists at her sides to keep herself from fidgeting in place.

Waverly opened the door, her standard _Smile and Wave_ smile, that smile she'd perfected as a teenager, morphed into a genuinely delighted smile as she took in the sight of the redheaded woman standing at her front of the door. "Nicole!" She exclaimed happily.

"Hey, Waves." Nicole greeted her with a smile, her dimples flashing as she took in the sight of the beautiful brunette. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She asked, unable to keep herself from staring at the familiar looking t-shirt that Waverly was wearing. It was _her_ old softball t-shirt, the same t-shirt she'd thought she'd lost months ago.

"No, no, no, of course not." Waverly reassured her. "I was just watching Friends... again." She added as an afterthought. "Were you looking for Wynonna?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she continued to explain her sister's whereabouts. "She told me not to wait up because she was planning on hanging out at Shorty's tonight."

"Yeah. N-no, I know." Nicole stammered out. She barely resisted the urge to wince as she realized how flustered she'd sounded when she'd spoken up. She cleared her throat, willing herself to regain the confidence that was eluding her when she needed it the most, and spoke again. "We were hanging out at Shorty's earlier, but I wasn't really enjoying myself, so, uh- I thought I'd come over and see what you were up to. Is that okay?"

"It's definitely okay!" Waverly reassured her as she smiled brightly. "Come on in!" She said as she grabbed Nicole's hand in her own and pulled her into the house, walking the redheaded woman into the living room, depositing her onto one end of the couch before she dropped onto the opposite side. She pulled her legs onto the couch, placing them on Nicole's lap like she had done numerous times in the past, before she grabbed the blanket that she'd tossed haphazardly on the couch when she'd heard the knock on the door and draped it over them. "Are you okay with watching Friends or did you want to watch something else?"

"I'm okay with watching Friends." Nicole said, a smile tugging at her lips as her hands subconsciously started rubbing gently at Waverly's shins. "What episode are we on?" She asked as she looked at the paused scene.

"The One with the Prom Video." Waverly answered with a smile. "I've always liked how Ross and Rachel got together."

"Oh, yeah?" Nicole asked, her curiosity genuinely peaked.

"Yeah, it's sweet, but obviously, they've got nothing on Chandler and Monica." Waverly answered confidently as she pressed play on the remote control she now held in her hand.

Nicole couldn't help but notice the similarities between her current situation and how Chandler and Monica had gotten together. Chandler had developed feelings for his best friend's little sister. _Well, this is all hitting a little too close to home right now._ Nicole thought humorlessly to herself. _Get a grip, Haught._

"Nicole?" Waverly said, startling Nicole slightly out of her thoughts. "Is everything okay?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly in concern as her eyes drifted over the redheaded woman. She'd felt her stiffen slightly under her feet and she'd watched out of her peripherals as Nicole seemed to get lost in her own thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm good." Nicole answered, quick to reassure the younger woman. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" Waverly asked her curiously.

"I- nothing important." Nicole said as she met Waverly's gaze. _I could lose myself in those beautiful eyes of hers._ She thought to herself as the younger woman's eyes seemed to twinkle in the limited lighting. The audience's laughter ended their staring contest and they both turned their attention back to the television screen. Nicole's phone vibrated in her back-pocket a few minutes later, alerting her to a new text message.

 **Wynonna: What did she say?**

 **Nicole: I haven't talked to her yet.**

 **Wynonna: What?! Are you still sitting in your car?!**

 **Nicole: No.**

Nicole rolled her eyes, watching the dots that let her know that Wynonna was texting her back, unable to keep her annoyed sigh to herself.

 **Wynonna: Stop being such a chicken shit about this! TALK. TO. HER.**

 **Wynonna: TALK.**

 **Wynonna. TO.**

 **Wynonna: HER.**

 **Wynonna: DO IT!**

"What are you huffing and puffing about?" Waverly asked in amusement as she grabbed the remote control and paused the episode before returning her attention to Nicole. "You only sound that annoyed when you're talking to one person." Waverly laughed lightly as she saw Nicole's disbelieving look. "Don't look at me like that. I know you very well, you know." Waverly scolded teasingly. "What does my sister want?"

"She- uh... she's trying to convince me talk to this girl that I can't stop thinking about." Nicole admitted as she dropped her phone onto the couch with a light thud.

"Oh." Waverly said, causing Nicole to look up in confusion. The brunette looked slightly disheartened by her words. _Why would she look like that if my words hadn't bothered her?_ The redhead couldn't help but ask herself. She couldn't let herself get her hopes up just yet, but if Waverly knew her well enough to know when she was annoyed with Wynonna, Nicole knew the younger Earp well enough to know that her one-word response had held a bit of disappointment in it that she hadn't been able to hide. "Well... did she convince you yet? Are you going to talk to her?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am." Nicole couldn't help but notice how the gleam in Waverly's expressive eyes had dimmed slightly when she'd answered in the way she had, but she wanted to tread lightly. "If I'm being honest, I'm kind of struggling to think of what I'm going to say to her."

Waverly's demeanor seemed to change instantaneously at those words. She was smiling now, but the light in her eyes remained dim. "I can help you!" She said cheerfully. _Too cheerfully._ Nicole thought to herself as she met the younger Earp's gaze. Waverly was pulling that **_Smile & Wave_** routine of hers and it was unsettling the redheaded woman because she'd never been on the receiving end of it before.

"How?" Nicole asked skeptically. _Why am I even entertaining this conversation?!_ She asked herself, wondering how telling it was that she sounded so hysterical to her own mind. _Stop digging yourself into a bigger hole! TELL. HER. THE. TRUTH. God, that last bit sounded like Wynonna._ She thought with a grimace.

"Nicole, are you even listening to me?" Waverly asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "How am I supposed to help you get the girl if you're not going to bother to pay attention?"

"Waverly... you can't help me with this." Nicole told her sincerely, wincing slightly as she heard how those words could be taken by the brunette. "That didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it to."

"Why can't I help you?" Waverly asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Because." Nicole answered with a shrug of her shoulders, pointedly avoiding the brunette's gaze.

"Because why, Nicole?"

Nicole pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to steel her nerves. She opened her eyes and met Waverly's gaze. "Because you're the girl that I can't stop thinking about." She admitted in a voice barely above a whisper, but she knew without a doubt that Waverly had clearly heard her. She watched as Waverly's eyes widened, and if she hadn't been more concerned with how the younger Earp was going to take her biting the bullet and admitting that she had feelings for her, she would've probably started laughing at the deer-in-the-headlights expression that the brunette currently wore.

"W-wh-what?" Waverly stuttered out.

"I- I didn't mean to blurt that out quite so tactlessly, but yeah, Waves..." Nicole clenched her fists at her sides to keep herself from reaching out for the younger woman. "I have feelings for you." She said, she would've been surprised with herself for how confident she'd sounded when she'd spoken that sentence out-loud if it weren't because she knew that'd she'd said them with nothing but honesty. "Look, Waverly, I'm not trying to pressure you into feeling anything that you don't feel for me and I don't want you to think that you're now somehow obligated to reciprocate my feelings for you because I would never expect you to do something like that- "

"Nic-" Waverly tried to interrupt, only to have the redheaded woman continue rambling on as if she hadn't even heard her.

"I swear to you that it was never my intention to blindside you with all of this, but I was talking to Wynonna earlier because I finally built up enough courage to tell her about everything and she told me that I wouldn't know how you felt about all of this, about me, if I didn't pull my head out of my ass, got my shit together, and talked to you... and she was making a lot of sense at the time, you know?" Nicole asked rhetorically.

"Nic-"

"So, I drove myself out here because my confidence was boosted a bit after that conversation I had with Wynonna, but as soon as I drove onto the property and parked my car, it was like I was suddenly hit with the realization that I was getting ready to talk to you, that all of this was really happening, and my all that bravery that I'd felt when I was walking out of Shorty's... it just vanished." Nicole said, sounding exasperated with herself. "But then your meddling sister was calling me and convincing me to stop being such a chicken shit, and then she was sending me text messages that were weirdly encouraging in a way that only Wynonna Earp can get away with, and now I'm sitting in your living room making a complete idiot of myself because I've started rambling and I can't seem to stop." Nicole finished with a groan as she buried her face in her hands, too mortified with herself to register Waverly's movements as the younger woman slowly pulled her legs out of the redheaded woman's lap, stood up, and perched herself on the small table in front of her, her gaze roaming over Nicole's slightly hunched body.

Waverly smiled tenderly as she watched the other woman try to gather her bearings. She looked so utterly distressed in that moment and the brunette wanted nothing more than to put her mind at ease. She didn't understand how Nicole could possibly think that she couldn't, that she didn't already, reciprocate her feelings for her. Hell, Waverly had every intention of grasping on to the opportunity that the redheaded woman had just presented her with. If Waverly had to guess, she'd say that'd she'd started falling for her sister's best friend since the day that they'd met, not that she would've been able to recognize those feelings growing within her until years later, but she remembered how she'd felt when she'd first looked in to Nicole's beautiful brown eyes and she remembered how the affect those eyes had on her had only grown stronger as they'd gotten older.

Being Wynonna Earp's little sister had kept Waverly from building up the courage to talk to Nicole about her feelings when she'd been a freshman in high school, but she'd felt something for the redhead woman then, even as she watched the then-senior walking down the hallways at school with Shae Pressman's hand in hers. She'd felt it even when she'd agreed to go to her own senior prom with Champ Hardy, only to have him get overly aggressive with her on the dance floor. She remembered even now how she'd watched Nicole punch Champ in the face, breaking his nose in the process after he'd ignored Waverly one too many times when she'd demanded that he stop groping her and tried to push him away. Nicole had stormed up to them, Wynonna and John Henry flanking her sides as she'd gripped him by the shoulder, turning him around to face her, and punching him without saying a word. They'd kept each other's gaze for a few seconds before John Henry had swept the redheaded woman off the dance floor, having her sit down at the chaperone's table as he tended to her hand.

"Nicole…" Waverly spoke, breaking the silence between them, not yet reaching for the woman in front of her even though she was itching to. "I can't say I'm not surprised by what you've told me. I'm uh- I'm feeling a little overwhelmed if I'm being honest, but I promise you that it's not for the wrong reasons." She took a deep breath, centering herself and reminding herself that they were having this conversation now because Nicole had already admitted to having feelings for her. "I don't think I've ever had anything scare me as much as you do." Waverly watched as Nicole picked her head up and met her gaze. She decided that if Nicole had the bravery to initiate this conversation, she was going to borrow from the woman's bravery and tell her how she felt. "Nicole Haught, you've been in my life since I was eleven years old… and while I can't pinpoint the exact moment when my feelings for you started growing into something more, I can tell you that they've been growing stronger every year, every month, every week, every day." She cupped Nicole's cheeks, brushing the pads of her thumbs on her cheeks, keeping their gazes locked as she continued. "I've been wanting to tell you how I've felt about you for years, but I always talked myself out of it." She admitted.

"Why?"

"Because of a lot of reasons." Waverly said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Because you were in love with someone like Shae Pressman and I'm-"

"She doesn't compare to you." Nicole interrupted as she turned her head slightly, pressing a tender kiss to the brunette's palm. "You're extraordinary, Waverly Earp."

Waverly smiled, her eyes shining beautifully as she took in Nicole's sincerity. She felt an overwhelming urge to pull the other woman to herself and kiss her, so she let her hands drift slowly to the back of Nicole's neck and pulled her towards herself. She met Nicole's gaze, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. "I really like you." She admitted somewhat shyly.

"Oh, I really like you too." Nicole said, her dimples flashing at her. Waverly couldn't help herself. She tugged the other woman to herself and pulled her into searing kiss that she now knew that they both had felt was long overdue.

Nicole couldn't believe that she'd not only talked to Waverly about her feelings, but the brunette reciprocated them. She felt like she was floating on a cloud as she let her hands drift towards the other woman's hips. She gripped them tightly as she swiped Waverly's lips with her tongue, asking for permission to deepen the kiss that was eagerly granted.

They readily lost themselves in each other, the episode of Friends they'd been watching had been left paused, forgotten on the screen as Nicole pulled Waverly into her lap, and that's how they would remain… until Wynonna would come home an hour later. Her boots stomping heavily on the ground as she made her way into the living room. "Whatcha watchin'?" She asked with a shit-eating grin as she took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, nonchalantly grabbing the remote control and unpausing the episode.


End file.
